Long Journey Ended

Stories From The Hebrew Bible
HOW THE LONG JOURNEY OF THE ISRAELITES ENDED

So, after coming to the border of the Promised Land, the Israelites went back into the wilderness to wait until all those who had not trusted in the Lord’s Word died.

They stayed in the wilderness of Paran, south of Canaan, for nearly forty years. Not much happened during those years. Young men grew up and old men died.

When the forty years were almost ended, the people came again to Kadesh-barnea. For some reason they found no water there. Perhaps the wells from which they had drawn water before were now dried up. The people complained against Moses, as they often did when trouble came to them. They blamed Moses for bringing them into such a desert land, where there was neither fruit to eat nor water to drink.

Then the Lord said to Moses: “Take the rod, and bring the people together, and stand before the rock and speak to the rock before them; and then the water will come out of the rock and the people and their flocks shall drink.”

Then Moses and Aaron brought all the people together before a great rock that stood beside the camp. And Moses stood in front of the rock, with the rod in his hand. But Moses did not do exactly what God told him to do. God told him to speak to the rock. But Moses disobeyed God and spoke to the people instead.

“Hear now, ye rebels,” Said Moses. “Shall we bring you water out of this rock?”

Then Moses disobeyed God again. God had commanded Moses to speak to the rock, but instead he struck the rock twice. With the second blow, water came pouring out of the rock, just as it had many years before from the rock at Rephidim, near Mount Sinai. Again there was plenty of water for the people and their flocks.

But God was not pleased with Moses, because. Moses had not obeyed God’s command exactly as God had given it. So, God said to Moses and Aaron: “Because you did not show honor to Me, by doing as I commanded you, neither of you shall enter the land that I have promised to the children of Israel.”

One act of disobedience cost Moses and Aaron the privilege of leading the people into their own land of promise! About this time, Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, died at Kadesh-barnea.

Remember when Miriam was a little girl, how she helped save the baby Moses, her brother, from the river? She also led the women in singing the song of Moses after crossing the Red Sea. Soon after her death, Moses and Aaron, and Eleazar, Aaron’s son, walked together up a mountain called Hor. On top of that mountain Moses removed from Aaron his priestly robes, and placed them on Aaron’s son Eleazar. There on top of Mount Hor, Aaron died; Moses and Eleazar buried him. Then they came down to the camp and Eleazar took his father’s place as the priest.

While they were at Kadesh-barnea, on the south of Canaan, they tried again to enter the land. But they found that the Canaanites and Amorites who lived there were too strong for them. So, again they turned back to the wilderness. South of the Dead Sea and southwest of Canaan lived the Edomites, who had sprung from Esau, Jacob’s brother, as the Israelites had sprung from Jacob. So, the Edomites were closely related to the Israelites.

And Moses sent a message to the king of Edom, saying:

We men of Israel are your brothers. We have come out of the land of Egypt, where the people of Egypt dealt harshly with us, and now we are going to our own land, which our God has promised to us, the land of Canaan. We pray you let us pass through your land, on our way. We will do no harm to your land nor your people. We will walk on the road to Canaan, not turning to the right hand nor the left. And we will not rob your vineyards nor even drink from your wells, unless we pay for the water that we use.

But the king of Edom was afraid to have such a great host of people, with all their flocks and cattle, go through his land. He drew out his army, and came against the Israelites. Moses was not willing to make war on a people who were closely related to the Israelites, so instead of leading the Israelites through Edom, he went around it, making a long journey to the south and then to the east and then to the north again.

It was a long, hard journey, through a deep valley which was very hot; and for most of the journey they were going away from Canaan, and not toward it. But it was the only way, since Moses would not let them fight the men of Edom.

While they were on this long journey, the people again found fault with Moses. They said, “Why have you brought us into this hot and sandy country? There is no water; and there is no bread except this vile manna, of which we are very tired! We wish that we were all back in Egypt again!”

Then God was angry with the people; and He let the fierce snakes that grew in the desert crawl among them and bite them. These snakes were called “fiery serpents.” Their bite was poisonous, so that many of the people died.

Then the people saw that they had acted wickedly in speaking against Moses; for when they spoke against Moses, they were speaking against God, Who was leading them. They said: “We have sinned against the Lord and we are sorry. Now pray to the Lord for us, that He may take away the serpents from us.”

So Moses prayed for the people, as he had prayed so many times before. And God heard Moses’ prayer and God said to him:

Make a serpent of brass, like the fiery serpents; and set it up on a pole, where the people can see it. Then everyone who is bitten may look on the serpent on the pole, and he shall live.”

And Moses did as God commanded him. He made a serpent of brass, which looked like the fiery snakes; and he lifted it up on a pole where all could see it. And then, whoever had been bitten by a snake looked up at the brazen snake, and the bite did him no harm.

This brazen snake was a teaching about Christ, though it was given long before Christ came. The New Testament says:

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:14, 15).

Northeast of the Dead Sea, above a brook called the brook Arnon, lived a people who were called the Amorites. Moses sent to their king the same message that he had sent to the king of Edom, asking for permission to go through his land. But the king would not allow the Israelites to pass through. He led his army against Israel, crossed the brook Arnon and fought against Israel at a place called Jahaz. At this place, the Israelites won their first great victory. In the battle they killed many of the Amorites, including their king, Sihon, and the Israelites took for their own all the land, as far north as the brook Jabbok.